Process of making selvaged-edged fabrics



Aug, 16,1927. 1,639,224

w. c. FISHER PROCESS OF MAKING SELVAGED EDGED FABRICS I Filed Auz. 14, 1922 2 Sheets-Shet 1 avwentoz WWII 6340M 9513M a t/tome 1,639,224 w. c. FISHER PROCESS OF MAKING SELVAGED EDGED FABRICS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed A112. 14. 1922 avwemto z mm 6. 5W w Patented Aug. 16, 1927.

UNITED stares WILLIAM C. FISHER/0F M'InnLETowN, CONNECTICUT, AssreNon To THE. RUSSELL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or MInnLnTowN, CONNECTICUT, 'coRPoR-ATIoN or CONNECTICUT.

eaoeess or MAKING sELvAGED-EnGEn memes.

ap lication and August 14, 1922. Serial No. "5815848.

The present invention relates to a process of making an endless fabric strip without trans-verse joints and with selv'a-ged edges from a simple piece of tubular fabric and to provide a "novel means forming the selvag'ed -edges thereof.

in certain methods of making endless belts it has been customary to use a plurality of short separate individual sections of a tubular fabric, the "entire fabric folded inwardly at the edges with one tube placed inside the other with the folded in edges face to face and. arranged in a lap j oin't or to use a simple tube with a double fold and thereupon to stitch the entire s'tructureto secure the folded edges of each section of the tube together and alsoconnecting the trvo-tubes. This method, however, has disadvantages ri1re uirin the em loyment of two tubular sections or an entire eloutiefeld bf a simple strip and is relatively expensive, requires a large amount "or stitching and has echer attendant disadvantages of a possible variation in the tension of the stitching tending to warp the completed article, and moreover, no means is provided for assuring alignment or long'ituclinal parallel extension crthe threads of the fabric forming the endless strip or be'lt.

It is'an object of the present invention to provide-a process by which selvaged edged :e'ndless strip may be formed from a single taibu lar section of fabric with a novel means of forming the iselvaged edges, the present invention further contemplating the forma tion eta plara l ity or such individual endless strips from a wider blank as will Therein- .after appear. p

A further object of the present invention relates to a process of ir'i'akin g endless strip of the character indicated in which the body portion is changed at the edge forming portions to provide a selvage edge material of substantially the same thickness when the edges are turned in, as the body portion of the strip, gas, for example, dropping the bindersolf the body port-ion at these edge p ortions or by a modification ofithe' thickness er the threads used at the salvaged edges.

It is a further object of the present invention to providesa process of formingsuch an endless fabric with the salvaged edges thereof formed iailong 'a line of the thread 'of the may portion the strip or belt, as this advantage among aha-s;

that the completed article will run true when used as 'a belt for example and this formation :of the 'se'lva'ged edge along a thread of the body portion of the fabric may be readily attained independently of a possible variation in the curvature of the threads due "to the weaving in the 100m which curvature usually occurs as Will be understood by those skilled in the art.

A still further object is to make a plurality of endless bel-ts from a blank having spaces 'of different thickness of material for forming the selvaged edge portions and then cutting and turning this material in a single or in separate operations in such a manner :as to form the selvaged edge for the strip.

Various other :obj cots are within the scope of this invent-ionsuch as relate to the method of accomplishing the results obtained; to the various details which may be advantageously employed if -cl'esi-red; to the steps in which the economies of manufacture -re ferred to are obtained as wherein a belt may "bepro'vided from a single tubular strip of fabric and salvaged edges forlmed thereon,

' which may be conveniently but from a large blank'containing .a plurality of belts "and the selvage edges turned to produce the completed structure by the simplified steps set forth, eliminating the disadvantages of certain prior method's and :to numerous other features which will be apparentfrom a consideration of the drawings and the related description of the form of the invention which may be preferred, in which-' Fig. I ill'ustrates'a strip of tubular fabric from which a plurality of endless strips or belts maybe made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig-.11 is an enlarged diagrammatic view along a line corresponding to the line 22 of Fig. I in which the binder threads are dropped below the lower ply,'th'us differing from the embodiment illustrated in Fig. I, in which the binder threads are brought out along the face of the material.

Fi'g. III is :a vie'yi' similar to Fig. I, illustrating the formation of the individual sections and selvaged edged portions.

Fig. IV is an enlarged diagrammatic View strip cut from the fabric illustrated in Fig. III showing the action of the strip cutting and folding tool which may be used.

Fig. VI is a sectional view of the tool on the line 66 of Fig. III.

Fig. VII is a perspective view of the completed endless strip of belt.

Fig. VIII is a view on the line 88 of Fig. VII.

Fig. IX is a view of a modification of the type of tool which may be employed if desired.

Referring to the drawings in Fig. I, I have shown a strip of tubular fabric 10, formed in the particular embodiment illustrated herein as having an upper ply 12 and a lower ply 14 with a binder material 15 as illustrated in Fig. II. At intervals along the tubular woven strip 10, which may be of any width and length, the binder material 15 may be dropped and brought out along the face or base of the material as indicated at 16 in Figs. I and II respectively during the weaving operation, the dropping of the binder occurring along the straight line of the threads 20 and 21 of the body portion of the fabric 10 as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is moreover apparent that this dropping will occur along this line irrespective of any curvature in the position of the threads formed during the weaving operation, as it is known that a slight curvature in the threads takes place in weavm its shown in Fig. III the'dropped binder portion 15 of the material 10 is now cut away with a flat wide doubled edge hand tool 17 to eliminate the binder or gutting sections 16 of the strip. The thickness of the material at the portion 18 will be therefore reduced and formed of the top and bottom plies of the material 10, it being intended to form the selvaged edges of the individual strips from this reduced portion.

The fabric may now be cut along the center of selvage edge forming portions 18 as shown in Fig. III with a suitable tool 19 for that purpose which is preferably of such size and shape, at least at a portion thereof, as to substantially fill the portion between the threads 20 and 21 between the upper and lower plies 12 and 14 when the tool is 1nserted therein. The tool 19 is provided with a cutting edge and folding attachment to simultaneously cut the individual endless belts and fold the selvaged edges temporarily in proper position. The cutting edge, such as a wheel 22 on the tool 23, is thus preferably located midway of the side edges of the tool so that the strip 18 is cut substantially in the center so that a plurality of equal belt sections 10 will be cut from the blank 10 and each will beprovided with selvage forming edges, one for each strip, of such width that when folded in on itself will meet the .in Fig. IV.

body thread 20 of the body portion of the strip. The type of suitable tool 1?, such as that disclosed herein is claimed in my Patent No. 1.483 425 filed of even date herewith, although other tools may be used for cutting the strip 18 to form adjacent salvage edges of adjacent strips.

A suitable foldingattachment illustrated at 24 may be employed to fold the cut edges of the upper ply 12 and lower ply 14 inwardly upon itself as illustrated in Fig. IV to form, when secured together, the selvaged edge of the fabric. Thus the tool may be provided with four folders, 25, 26, 27 and 28 and fold, if desired, theupper and lower plies of the selvaged edge for two adjacent strips simultaneously which action will result when the tool 19 is inserted in the portion 18 and forwardly advanced between the upper and lower plies around the entire tubular strip 10 returning to the point of commencement to simultaneously cut the upper and lower plies 12 and 14 of the strip 18 along the center thereof and fold the upper ply 12 inwardly on itself and the lower ply 14 likewise inwardly on itself as indicated The individual strips from the blank 10 will thus be formed when the several sections 18 are cut, forming endless separate belts as illustrated in Figs. VII and VIII of a single fabric piece with the selvage edge now in folded posit-ion. The sections 10 are now stitched along the inturned selvaged edges of both plies to secure the same to gether to form the complete article. Instead of stitching, the selvage edges may be permanently secured with a glue composition or rubber cement or the like.

Moreover, it is apparent that if desired a suitable size or glue may be employed and applied to the inturned edges 12 and 14 of the upper and lower plies 12 and 14 during the cutting and folding operation in order to temporarily retain the folded selvaged edges in position previous to the stitching. To this end I have illustrated in Fig. IX a tool in which a suitable opening adjacent the forward end. thereof is provided through. which glue may be forced, there being a reservoir 30 connected with the tool and a pipe 31 leading from the reservoir to the opening at the forward end of the tool by which the size may be applied to the edge portions of the upper and lower plies 12 and 14 during the cutting operation, the glue oozing through the fabric sutficiently so that when folded bythe folding attachment the same will satisfactorily retain the folded selvaged edges in place.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a simple and efficient process for forming a selvaged edged endless strip which may be readily employed in making a plurality of similar or-dissimilar endlessstrips from a blank depending on the location and Width of the dropped sections 18 and the proper sized cutting and folding tool which will be used accordingly. The process can be carried out on a blank by dropping and cutting out the binder, for one strip only then cutting the individual strips and folding the edges for one strip instead of for two adjacent strips as shown herein, in which case the material adjacent a cut out belt could be used for other purposes, or otherwise operated upon to form an endless strip, if desired. Reference is hereby made to my Patents Nos. 1,429,630 and 1,488,425, granted on co- 1 pending applications and relating to the article and tool referred to herein. a

It is apparent that Within the spirit of the invention modifications and different arrangements may be made other than as herein disclosed, and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, the inventioncomprehending all variations thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States and claim is:

1. A process of making a plurality of end less fabric strips that comprises making a tubular blank piece of fabric having an upper ply, abinder, and a lower ply, dropping the binder threads thereof at spaced intervals to form edge forming portions of the upper and lower plies, cutting away said dropped binder threads, cutting the fabric blank through the edge forming portions to form individual strips and folding each edge port-ion of the upper and lower plies inwardly to form the selvaged edge and securing the folds and plies together at the edge portions.

2. A process of making an endless fabric selvaged edged strip that comprises making a tubular piece of fabric consisting of a plurality of plies and a binder interconnecting annular segment portions of the plies, cutting the binder and plies at the non-interconnected portions; folding in the edges of the cut plies to form the selvaged edge; securing the folds in place by cement and stitching the edge portions.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature. I

WILLIAM G. FISHER. 

